I\u2019ve been a contract technical writer for over 20 years, so I\u2019m used to the ebb and flow of new clients and new projects.\u00a0 I say that, but I have to acknowledge the rumbling in the gut that arises when the phone isn\u2019t ringing and the email in-box contains little more than the Viagra solicitations that made it past the spam filter.<\/p>\n
Those dry spells suddenly loom large as you forget all the interesting and lucrative projects you\u2019ve enjoyed, and instead watch the number in the lower right corner of the corporation\u2019s QuickBooks Cash Account ledger drift downward.\u00a0 It\u2019s usually about that time, with prospects looking dim, that the phone rings and you hear something like the following:<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u00a0“My Master’s thesis is due at the end of the month and I need some writing and editing help.” <\/em><\/p>\n \u2022 \u00a0“Do you do resumes?”<\/em><\/p>\n \u2022 \u00a0“I’ve finished the first few chapters of my book and I think I need an editor.”<\/em><\/p>\n \u2022 \u00a0“I need help with my business plan… uh, my budget is tight so can I pay part now and the balance when I land my start-up funding?’<\/em><\/p>\n Your mind instantly does the calculation.\u00a0 What the hell, I\u2019m not very busy.\u00a0 This guy surely can\u2019t pay my hourly rate, but if I cut the rate he might go for it, and at least I\u2019d be billing a little.\u00a0 Yes, my last writing project was a six-month stint at GE writing about laser-induced isotope separation, and while this guy’s project isn\u2019t technical I\u2019d be helping someone\u2026 and remember, even Steve Jobs needed startup help at some point.<\/p>\n I laugh (no make that shudder) now when I think about how many times I went down that path early in my career.\u00a0 Only once, as I\u2019ll explain below, have those calls ever been worth the ensuing headaches of handholding and 60 day late payments.\u00a0 Now when those calls come in I say \u201cNo thank you\u201d but in my own way.\u00a0 I hear out the caller and ask a few questions.\u00a0 I explain that my business is highly technical writing and then I tell them my hourly rate.\u00a0 Most promise to think about it and call back.\u00a0 Knowing they won\u2019t, I also turn to my list of local novice writers and resume services and offer a few names.\u00a0 I\u2019m invariably polite and thank them for contacting ENCORE (Christian kindness is free and maybe they\u2019ll remember me when that crazy business plan lands VC funding).<\/p>\n The one time it worked?\u00a0 A woman called in the middle of a very bad dry spell wanting help writing an award acceptance speech she had to make at a national fraternal organization\u2019s convention.\u00a0 We went through the usual conversation and she promised to think about it and call back, and darned if the next day she did.\u00a0 I interviewed her for the speech, and\u00a0over coffee in her living room I met a wonderful, kind, and accomplished woman.\u00a0 I prepared the draft, we tweaked it together, I emailed her the final, and I had a check two days later.\u00a0 She called to say the speech was a success, and son of a gun if she didn\u2019t call me two months later to write another.<\/p>\n You\u2019re a technical writer.\u00a0 Stick to your knitting and learn to say \u201cNo thank you.\u201d\u00a0 But be alert for that rare and delightful exception to the rule. \u2013 Dennis Owen<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve been a contract technical writer for over 20 years, so I\u2019m used to the ebb and flow of new clients and new projects.\u00a0 I say that, but I have to acknowledge the rumbling in the gut that arises when the phone isn\u2019t ringing and the email in-box contains little more than the Viagra solicitations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-writing-life"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t